Health Conditions

What is it?

Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a chronic disease characterized by high glucose (sugar) levels in the blood. Your body produces a hormone called insulin to regulate the amount of sugar in the blood. If you have diabetes, your body either doesn't produce enough insulin (Type 1) or does not adequately respond to the insulin it is producing (Type 2).

There are three major types of diabetes:

1. Type 1: In type 1 diabetes, the body loses its ability to produce insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar. Sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood and helps transport it into the cells. In people with Type 1 diabetes, the immune system mistakenly attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. When this happens, beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans, which are tiny clusters of cells in the pancreas that manufacture insulin and glucagon, are attacked and destroyed by the body's own immune system in an autoimmune reaction. This is called an autoimmune response. Type 1 diabetes typically affects younger people, and symptoms may appear suddenly. This type of diabetes accounts for about 5 percent to 10 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.
2. Type 2: In type 2 diabetes, the body either becomes less responsive to the insulin it produces or does not produce enough insulin. Insulin helps the body use sugar, which is necessary for the cells in the body to live. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood and helps transport it into cells. The body can become resistant to insulin because of obesity, sedentary lifestyles, aging, certain drugs, or high glucose levels. Type 2 diabetes, which usually has its onset in adulthood after the age of 30, is much more common than type 1 diabetes. At least 90 percent to 95 percent of all people who have diabetes are classified as having type 2.
• Pre-diabetes: A person is said to have pre-diabetes (also known as Impaired Glucose Tolerance - IGT) when his/her fasting blood glucose level is higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. For example, it is considered normal if your fasting blood sugar level is less than 100 mg/dL. However, you?re considered to have pre-diabetes if your fasting blood sugar levels are between 100-125 mg/dL. It is estimated that 54 million Americans have pre-diabetes.
3. Gestational diabetes: This form of diabetes is diagnosed in pregnant women who have never had diabetes before, but who have high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. High blood sugar levels occur in pregnancy and usually disappear after the mother gives birth. This type of diabetes occurs about 4 percent of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases in the United States. In 40 percent of all cases, gestational diabetes leads to type 2 diabetes later in life.

Other types of diabetes include the following:

• Secondary diabetes: High blood sugar levels result from specific genetic syndromes, surgery, drugs, malnutrition, infections, and other damage to or diseases of the pancreas. This type of diabetes may account for 1 percent to 2 percent of all cases of diabetes.

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